CNET Editors' Rating

The BadPools of light in the screen's corners are seriously distracting during dark scenes; motion-handling isn't perfect.

The Bottom LineThe Samsung UE55B7020WW looks like it's been sent back from five years in the future, managing to fit an extraordinary amount of features into its incredibly svelte body. Backlight-inconsistency issues mar its otherwise excellent pictures, though

7.5 Overall

Review Sections

It's not often that we're rendered speechless, but we have to admit that, when we saw Samsung's UE55B7020WW, we were struck dumb. After all, it's not every day you see a 55-inch screen that's only 30mm thick. But can this £2,050, 1080p, LED-backlit LCD TV's pictures match its outer beauty?

Entrancingly slenderThe extreme slenderness of the UE55B7020WW immediately hints at the screen's single most important feature: its LED edge lights. LED light sources are ranged around the screen's edges, behind the TV's bezel, firing light across the back of the screen, with this light then being deflected out through the screen by an array of tiny mirrors.

This approach to LED lighting denies the UE55B7020WW the contrast-boosting local-dimming technology enjoyed by sets with LEDs located directly behind the screen. But it does allow the UE55B7020WW to be entrancingly thin.

Copious connections Fittingly for a screen that looks so cutting-edge and makes such extravagant use of a relatively new technology, the UE55B7020WW is stuffed with connections and features. Four HDMI ports get the ball rolling, aided by, among other connections, two USB sockets for playback of all manner of multimedia file types, and an Ethernet port that allows access to a DLNA-certified PC or Samsung's online Media 2.0 service.

The UE55B7020WW packs a ridiculous amount of features into its impressively slender body

You can also get online wirelessly via an optional Wi-Fi USB dongle. But whichever way you access Media 2.0, instead of full Internet access, you'll get the same Yahoo Widgets-driven, ring-fenced content, including YouTube, Flickr, Twitter and Yahoo news, weather and finance reports.

If Media 2.0's online content and the USB ports don't satisfy your multimedia cravings, the UE55B7020WW also offers Samsung's unique Content Library feature, a collection of multimedia content stored on flash memory inside the TV, including everything from artwork and photo galleries to recipes, games, and even fitness regimes. Unsurprisingly, most of this content is pretty basic and probably won't draw you back for more very often. But it's an intriguing concept that has plenty of space to develop.

The UE55B7020WW's high-end status is further confirmed by a striking quantity of picture options within its on-screen menus, including, most notably, a 100Hz engine that allows you to adjust how heavily it goes to work on whatever you're watching.